Amazon has some great deals on classic TV shows on DVD all this week. All the titles listed below are deeply discounted through Saturday December 6. Enjoy!
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Tag Archives: 1960s TV Shows
November Classic TV on DVD Releases
There are lots of great classic TV shows coming out on DVD this month, the biggest being the cult classic Batman starring Adam West and Burt Ward.
Also new on disc this November: a best of The Merv Griffin Show compilation, season 7 of Quincy, M.E. and the complete box set of sci-fi documentary series In Search Of…
Enjoy some classic TV and help support ClassicTVBlog.com with your purchase!
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CBS, Weigel Team Up For Classic Diginet
The CBS Television Stations Group is pairing up with Weigel Broadcasting to launch a new classic TV digital broadcast network called Decades that will compete with the likes of Antenna TV, Cozi, MeTV and Retro TV.
The new network will draw on the vast CBS programming library, which includes such iconic series as Cheers, Happy Days, I Love Lucy and Star Trek. It will also utilize the archives of CBS News and Entertainment Tonight. Decades plans to air Decades Retrospectical, “an original daily one-hour program produced around the news events and cultural touchstones of a specific day, week or other time frame or theme.” Shows and movies presented each day will reflect that day’s theme or commemorative event.
Weigel is the undisputed leader in the classic TV and movie digital space. They own and operate classic TV diginet MeTV, teamed with MGM to launch movie network This TV and are currently partners with Fox Television Stations on the classic movie diginet Movies!
Decades is scheduled to launch in Spring 2015 on the 16 CBS owned-and-operated stations including WCBS New York, KCBS Los Angeles, WBBM Chicago and KYW Philadelphia. Weigel will handle distribution of the new network in other markets across the country.
Tuned In: Catching Up
It’s been awhile since my last post, so let’s get caught up on some classic TV news:
- Weigel Broadcasting has launched a spinoff of its popular diginet MeTV Network. H&I (Heroes and Icons) showcases action, police and western programming, including Batman, Kung Fu, The Untouchables and The Wild Wild West. It is currently available on the digital subchannels of Weigel stations in Chicago, Milwaukee and South Bend IN.
- Speaking of digital broadcast networks, Grit TV will soon increase its coverage to nearly 75% of United States TV households. Sinclair Broadcast Group is adding the male-focused diginet to 47 stations across the country, including stations in Seattle, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Nashville. Grit airs mostly action and adventure movies from such studios as Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros.
- Classic TV diginet MeTV is adding 5 new affiliates to its network. They include WHIO Dayton OH, WJRT Flint MI, KEZI Eugene OR, KERO Bakersfield CA and WKTV Utica NY. The total number of MeTV affiliates is now 166, reaching 92% of the U.S.
- CBS is now offering a subscription streaming service that includes most current programs and a number of classics from the CBS library. CBS All Access claims to offer over 6,500 episodes, including such classic shows as The Andy Griffith Show, The Brady Bunch, Hawaii Five-O, I Love Lucy, Mission: Impossible, Perry Mason, Star Trek, Taxi and The Twilight Zone. The service costs $5.99 a month.
- We said goodbye to several classic TV friends within the past month. Actress Polly Bergen guested on such classic shows as Dr. Kildare, The Love Boat and Wagon Train. She was a panelist on the original version of To Tell The Truth and most recently had a recurring role on the ABC drama Desperate Housewives. Bergen is perhaps best known for her role as Gregory Peck’s wife in the 1962 film Cape Fear. Also passing away recently: writer Sam Hall (he wrote for ABC daytime dramas Dark Shadows and One Life to Live) and actor-director Geoffrey Holder. Holder guested on It Takes A Thief and Tarzan (starring Ron Ely), but many remember him for his role in a series of commercials for the soft drink 7UP.
Deal of the Day: Columbo The Complete Series
Now you can own the complete series of Columbo on DVD for just $49.99, a 67% (99.99) savings over MSRP.
Legendary Peter Falk is a four-time Primetime Emmy Award-winner for his iconic role as the beloved, trenchcoat-wearing Police Lieutenant Columbo. Columbo is the landmark series that inspired a genre. And now, for the first time ever, all 69 episodes from its seven seasons and all 24 television movies are together in this 34-disc anthology. Every criminal, every innocent victim (and some not-so-innocent ones), and every wily deduction are here in one definitive collection.
Just one more thing…this sale ends at 11:59PM PST tonight.
Tuned In: Movies! Expands Reach
- Classic movie diginet Movies! is coming to nine more cities, bringing its coverage to over 50% of the U.S. The new affiliates include KQCA Sacramento, WBGN Pittsburgh, KCWE Kansas City, WYFF Greenville SC, WBKI Louisville KY, WUWB Flint MI, WPME Portland ME, KOLO Reno NV and WURO Traverse City MI. Several of the stations have already launched Movies! with the rest scheduled to go live by January. Movies! is a joint venture of Weigel Communications (MeTV) and Fox Television Stations.
- We lost several more classic TV contributors recently. Longtime TV writer-director Theodore J. Flicker worked on such series as The Andy Griffith Show, I Dream of Jeannie and Night Gallery. He was also creator of the 1970s cop comedy Barney Miller. Writer Lee Maddux got his start on the 1970s Sid & Marty Krofft series Wonderbug. He later penned episodes of Benson, In The Heat of the Night, Night Court and Scarecrow & Mrs. King.
Obits: Richard Kiel, Denny Miller
Two classic TV actors passed away in recent days.
Richard Kiel appeared on such classic shows as Gilligan’s Island, I Dream of Jeannie, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Land of the Lost, The Rifleman, The Twilight Zone and The Wild Wild West. He was also a regular on the short-lived 1975 William Shatner comedy-western series Barbary Coast.
Kiel was perhaps best-known for his role as Jaws in several James Bond movies back in the 1970s. He died Wednesday in Fresno, California at age 74.
Denny Miller played the first blond Tarzan in the 1959 movie Tarzan the Ape Man and was later in the cast of the long-running western series Wagon Train. Miller made numerous guest appearances on TV classics including The Brady Bunch, Gilligan’s Island, Gunsmoke, Hawaii Five-0, The Rifleman, The Rockford Files and The Six Million Dollar Man.
Miller also played Juliet Prowse’s husband in the 1965 sitcom Mona McCluskey. He passed away Tuesday in Las Vegas at age 80.
Obit: Joan Rivers
Comedienne Joan Rivers has died.
Rivers first rose to fame in a 1965 guest appearance on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, later going on to be a guest host of the NBC franchise. She guested on such 1970s classics as The Carol Burnett Show and The Hollywood Squares (see a 1970 appearance below). In 1986, she hosted a short-lived late night competitor (The Late Show Starring Joan Rivers) on the fledgling Fox network.
Joan Rivers passed away today in New York. She was 81 years old.
FamilyNet Goes Retro Today
Satellite-cable network FamilyNet takes on a new look today, adding a large number of classic shows from the Sony Pictures Television library to their schedule.
SPT and Rural Media Group (parent of FamilyNet) have inked a 5-year deal where SPT will provide programming and advertising sales services to RMG.
Here’s a look at the new weekday schedule on FamilyNet, which is available on Dish Network Channel 232:
| Time Period (ET) | Programming | |
|---|---|---|
| 5:00AM | Paid Programming | |
| 5:30AM | ||
| 6:00AM | ||
| 6:30AM | ||
| 7:00AM | Your Health | |
| 7:30AM | ||
| 8:00AM | I Dream of Jeannie | |
| 8:30AM | I Dream of Jeannie | |
| 9:00AM | Bewitched | |
| 9:30AM | Bewitched | |
| 10:00AM | T.J. Hooker | |
| 10:30AM | ||
| 11:00AM | Starsky & Hutch | |
| 11:30AM | ||
| 12:00N | Charlie's Angels | |
| 12:30PM | ||
| 1:00PM | Fantasy Island | |
| 1:30PM | ||
| 2:00PM | All in the Family | |
| 2:30PM | Barney Miller | |
| 3:00PM | Malcolm & Eddie | |
| 3:30PM | Good Times | |
| 4:00PM | Good Times | |
| 4:30PM | What's Happening Now!! | |
| 5:00PM | I Dream of Jeannie | |
| 5:30PM | I Dream of Jeannie | |
| 6:00PM | Bewitched | |
| 6:30PM | Bewitched | |
| 7:00PM | All in the Family | |
| 7:30PM | Barney Miller | |
| 8:00PM | Fantasy Island | |
| 8:30PM | ||
| 9:00PM | Starsky & Hutch | |
| 9:30PM | ||
| 10:00PM | Charlie's Angels | |
| 10:30PM | ||
| 11:00PM | T.J. Hooker | |
| 11:30PM | ||
| 12:00M | Malcolm & Eddie | |
| 12:30AM | Good Times | |
| 1:00AM | Good Times | |
| 1:30AM | What's Happening Now!! | |
| 2:00AM | Paid Programming | |
| 2:30AM | ||
| 3:00AM | ||
| 3:30AM | ||
| 4:00AM | ||
| 4:30AM |
Weekend programming includes All in the Family, Barney Miller, Bewitched, Brothers, Charlie’s Angels, Fantasy Island, I Dream of Jeannie, The Monkees, Starsky & Hutch, T.J. Hooker and movies from the Sony vaults.
For the complete programming schedule, visit the FamilyNet website.
Antenna TV Adds Sitcoms
Classic TV diginet Antenna TV has announced 11 shows will join their schedule in 2015. All 11 are half-hour sitcoms, with only one from the pre-1975 era (Leave it to Beaver).
Here’s an alphabetical listing:
- Dear John (1988-92)
- Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989-93)
- Evening Shade (1990-94)
- Family Ties (1982-89)
- The Jeffersons (1975-85)
- Leave It to Beaver (1957-64. Currently on MeTV)
- Mork & Mindy (1978-82)
- Mr. Belvedere (1985-90)
- Newhart (1982-90)
- One Day at a Time (1975-84)
- Small Wonder (1985-89)